Thursday, June 25, 2009

Team Grassley, a Lawyer's Eye View

You might love him or you might hate him (I'm obviously one of his fans), but either way Senator Charles Grassley and his passionate staff have shaken up the world of medicine and have made "conflict of interest" a household term.

Recently, I read this article published on the website LawyersandSettlements.com that provides a succinct rundown of Team Grassley's accomplishments. Lawyers, of course, are particularly big Grassley fans because each one of his investigations creates instant jobs for dozens of attorneys on various sides of the issue. Thus, you can count on them to be particularly vigilant and accurate monitors of the COI body count as it rises. For the confused, the overwhelmed, or the plain curious, this article makes for a nice fact sheet.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stay the course, Dr. C. You are better than your enemies. Just curious: Did you really think that your colleagues who have been getting drunk on pharma money would just go away? Do you really think that a blog post was your undoing? I don't think so. "They" are after you because you have integrity. I just wish the rest of this field had your courage. Be strong.

Anonymous said...

I hope that Senator Grassley invites mental health advocacy organizations to testify. If research can be tainted in fact or appearance by money can't advocacy as well?

In a mental health system long beset by limited resources it is essential that their advocacy efforts go primarily towards addressing the needs of consumers.

Dan said...

Disappointingly, Senator Grassley is against a public health insurance implementation in the United States. The senator believes that if this were to occur, it would harm the private insurance industry.

The senator should know that, with reforms and overhauls, sacrifices are common and necessary.

Gina Pera said...

Of course Grassley's against a public insurance implementation.

Does anyone really think his "twittering" grandstanding reflects any deep-seated feelings for the public good and not his private insurance company backing?

Gina Pera said...

Ha! I hate to say I told you so, but....

http://tinyurl.com/m8g9pd

Anybody who still thinks Chuck Grassley is not a giant cheerleader for Big Insurance is seriously deluded.

Sarah Palin is bad enough with her fearmongering about the "death panel" but St. Chuck of the Medical Reformers reinforces her crazypants talk.

Keep your eyes open, folks, and learn to recognize those grandstanders when you see one.